As part of a review of emphases in high school and college language-arts curricula, the American College Testing Program sponsored an invitational language-arts conference at its national office, in February 1976. The eight conference participants were selected to represent various fields of specialization and several institutional affiliations. From their various perspectives emerged a consensus that provides an overview of the domain of the language arts and that enumerates the skills essential to success in college writing experiences. Tackling the distinction between the traditional "basics" and other goals that have more to do with intellectual competence suggests some guidelines for defining "basic skills," for assigning classroom priorities, and for assessing language. The report includes summaries of the responses of the eight participants to detailed questionnaires about goals and processes in the language arts, as well as the texts of position papers prepared by each participant. (AA)